Is prostitution legal in Panama?
Legal & regulated
Prostitution is legal and regulated in Panama, with sex workers required to register and carry identification cards.
Panama is one of 73 countries classified “Legal & regulated” for sex work — 33% of the 219 with data. (Also searched as prostitution.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Prostitution in the Americas
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Costa Rica
- Decriminalized / unregulated Prostitution is not illegal but related activities like pimping and brothels are prohibited.
- Nicaragua
- Decriminalized / unregulated Prostitution is legal but promoting and procuring are prohibited, with a minimum age of 14.
- Honduras
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal in Honduras with no specific prohibition, though related activities are illegal.
- Colombia
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal and regulated in brothels within designated tolerance zones; sex workers require regular health checks.
- El Salvador
- Decriminalized / unregulated Prostitution is legal but pimping and related activities are illegal, with local ordinances varying.
- Jamaica
- Illegal Prostitution is illegal but widely tolerated, especially in tourist areas.
Other laws in Panama
- Same-Sex Activity
- Legal
- Age of Consent
- 14–15
- Divorce
- Legal
- Incest Laws
- Legal between adults
- Marriage Age
- 18+
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.